Long story, but I will try and make it brief. My wife and I have been married almost 23 years. At our 7 year anniversary, I upgraded her ring. Her mother's cousin owned a jewelry store and helped out. I did not know a lot about the process, but she did get her a nice ring...at least we thought so
...I have since learned a lot more.
Her upgraded ring was a 2.08 marquise with two trillions on either side on a wide gold band. Trillions were about 95 points total.
We had it insured with a rider with our insurance company. Color was an H and clarity was an S1. Did not know about cut quality etc. much in 1994.
Fast forward to 2009, her father had heart issues and passed away on 9/1/09 in Memphis. Her mother had a stroke eight days later and has been in and out of the hospital 3 times since and is now in a rehab. center in Memphis. I say all this because somewhere in and out of all the hospital stays and hotel stays her ring cannot be found. We have turned our house, cars, etc. upside down and cannot find it. We have filed a claim with our insurance and are in the process of getting her a new ring. She is sad, but ready for a change. Our original appraisal was for 31k in 1994. The inflation rider had brought our coverage up to 45k. They are telling us they can replace it for 25k, or we can have a check. I am talking now with my agent about refunding some premiums since it seems that I should not pay premiums on what they will not pay...anyway, that is another discussion.
So, I have been reading and studying here for a couple weeks. There is a lot to take in. She is still deciding on a mounting as well as a shape. It seems that we will probably go with a round brilliant or a cushion. She is wearing her grandmothers ring currently. It is a round 'miners cut' or OEC of about 1.0-1.5 cts. It is pretty clear, but we can notice the color. Probably a J??
She does like how it sparkles. It has large facets and seems to shine and sparkle really well.
I have spent some time in the independent BandM stores locally and am underimpressed. When I ask about OEC or miner cuts, they all want to sell me a G color clear diamond. I am still at the point of figuring out my options. I know that this is not an 'investment', but hopefully it will become a family heirloom.
We know we want:
Something that is 'eye clear'...we are in our 40's, so that is pretty easy
Something that is at least 2.5 cts., but maybe more. She got a lot of compliments on her marquise and it did have some 'bling' factor.
She likes fancy yellows, but the price to get something of that size in intense or vivid may be out of my range.
I would like to stay in the 30k range.
She will probably go with platinum
She likes the 'pave' look and the vintage look, but she may be too rough on a ring for a setting with a lot of small diamonds
I am torn on color....I would want to see something that is a k,l,m etc. but I realize I could get some 'carotage' for that color
We have an appraiser from these boards near here, so we could get an online ring checked out.
We know we want a GIA or AGS stone...any others that are ok? One of the BandM stores said his were, then when I asked to see it, he could not find it, then he went on to say it was IGL, but that it really did not matter. We walked from there pretty fast.
Does anyone have any advice, thoughts, etc. We have even thought about flying to NYC for a weekend.
Is it a bad time to be looking right now that the holidays are over...ie...will stock be depleted?
Should we wait a few weeks? What are some places to look for OEC and miner cuts?
This is long winded, but I wanted to share some background.
Hope everyone is having a good Christmas day.
Rick
...I have since learned a lot more.Her upgraded ring was a 2.08 marquise with two trillions on either side on a wide gold band. Trillions were about 95 points total.
We had it insured with a rider with our insurance company. Color was an H and clarity was an S1. Did not know about cut quality etc. much in 1994.
Fast forward to 2009, her father had heart issues and passed away on 9/1/09 in Memphis. Her mother had a stroke eight days later and has been in and out of the hospital 3 times since and is now in a rehab. center in Memphis. I say all this because somewhere in and out of all the hospital stays and hotel stays her ring cannot be found. We have turned our house, cars, etc. upside down and cannot find it. We have filed a claim with our insurance and are in the process of getting her a new ring. She is sad, but ready for a change. Our original appraisal was for 31k in 1994. The inflation rider had brought our coverage up to 45k. They are telling us they can replace it for 25k, or we can have a check. I am talking now with my agent about refunding some premiums since it seems that I should not pay premiums on what they will not pay...anyway, that is another discussion.
So, I have been reading and studying here for a couple weeks. There is a lot to take in. She is still deciding on a mounting as well as a shape. It seems that we will probably go with a round brilliant or a cushion. She is wearing her grandmothers ring currently. It is a round 'miners cut' or OEC of about 1.0-1.5 cts. It is pretty clear, but we can notice the color. Probably a J??
She does like how it sparkles. It has large facets and seems to shine and sparkle really well.
I have spent some time in the independent BandM stores locally and am underimpressed. When I ask about OEC or miner cuts, they all want to sell me a G color clear diamond. I am still at the point of figuring out my options. I know that this is not an 'investment', but hopefully it will become a family heirloom.
We know we want:
Something that is 'eye clear'...we are in our 40's, so that is pretty easy
Something that is at least 2.5 cts., but maybe more. She got a lot of compliments on her marquise and it did have some 'bling' factor.
She likes fancy yellows, but the price to get something of that size in intense or vivid may be out of my range.
I would like to stay in the 30k range.
She will probably go with platinum
She likes the 'pave' look and the vintage look, but she may be too rough on a ring for a setting with a lot of small diamonds
I am torn on color....I would want to see something that is a k,l,m etc. but I realize I could get some 'carotage' for that color
We have an appraiser from these boards near here, so we could get an online ring checked out.
We know we want a GIA or AGS stone...any others that are ok? One of the BandM stores said his were, then when I asked to see it, he could not find it, then he went on to say it was IGL, but that it really did not matter. We walked from there pretty fast.
Does anyone have any advice, thoughts, etc. We have even thought about flying to NYC for a weekend.
Is it a bad time to be looking right now that the holidays are over...ie...will stock be depleted?
Should we wait a few weeks? What are some places to look for OEC and miner cuts?
This is long winded, but I wanted to share some background.
Hope everyone is having a good Christmas day.
Rick
300x240.png)